The Legendary Fashions of Mad Matilda

It’s 24 hours until the official release of The Legendary Mad Matilda and I thought I’d share some concept sketches of some of Mattie’s outfits she wears in the book.

Legendary Mad Matilda is set in 1995, and with this book being about Matilda figuring out what she wants to do with her life, I thought her fashion would be a bit more varied than the Black Widow outfits she wore in Spellbound. With her being a part Industrial Rave scene at night and doing internships during the day, she’s trying on different outfits and different styles of Goth fashion and finding what fits her. With all the outfits in the story I wanted them to be something anyone could put together with clothes, shoes and accessories they could get at a thrift shop, a Rainbow, a Gap Macy*s or any other store.

I didn’t want the outfits in any of the Spinsterella Trilogy books to be super fancy or elaborate like the ones I see from Killstar and PunkRave. So I kept all the looks simple. The way I see it clothes are supposed to make a statement about YOU, and it’s how YOU put them together that makes STATEMENT about YOU. A person with CONFIDENCE can make a $5 dress look better than one that costs $500!

This outfit is what Matilda wears in the opening scene. When Mad Matilda hits the stage to host a Rave she wears an industrial look with a modded T-shirt, shorter skirt, spiked collars, spiked cuff bracelets and platform boots. Paired with her pigtails It’s an aggressive look that gets the attention of a Rave crowd and gets them into the party. 

This summer outfit is one Matilda wears later in several chapters of the book. For this look I was inspired by the dress and straw hat Lydia Deetz wears in some of the earlier scenes in Beetlejuice. I thought a boxy linen shirtdress, a wide brimmed straw hat and a pair of Italian leather thong sandals would help keep a ghoul cool when she was out an about in New York City.

This outfit featuring a Catholic school uniform is one Matilda mentioned in Spinsterella. It’s one she talks about wearing during her early days in The Pit. The pigtails she wears in this outfit are straight not teased, to symbolize her transitioning from the club scene to corporate America.

The Legendary Mad Matilda will be available in Paperback and e-readers Tomorrow! Get your copy at Amazon.com!